Abstract

This single subject study concerned how a 13 year-old student with
specific learning disabilities used metacognition as he composed discourse in
response to a writing prompt. Ethnographic procedures were used to collect and
analyze data. The participant engaged in a think aloud procedure as he composed
a paper about a famous historical figure. His transcribed verbalizations were
analyzed by use of domain and taxonomic analysis for use of metacognitive
strategies.
Results indicated that the participant organized and controlled the writing
process by using the following four domains of metacognitive strategies: (a)
planning discourse/thinking, (b) evaluating discourse/thinking, (c) recognizing
problems with discourse/thinking, and (d) repairing discourse/thinking. The
participant engaged in knowledge-telling behavior and focused on surface level
text structure to produce a final product at a low abstractive level. Small
sample size prevents generalizations, but other research suggests that particular
metacognitive strategies can be taught to support more successful writing.